Second Trial of Special Prosecutor Cases to be Expedited... Seoul High Court to Assign 'Focused Trial Division'

Following Central District Court, High Court also prepares swift measures... suspension of new case assignments for focused divisions & redistribution of general cases, expansion of legal clerks

Instead of the usual 'assign first, adjust later' method, random assignment will be conducted after examining disqualification & recusal grounds... two or more criminal divisions to be increased

Seoul High Court. Yonhap News TV capture. Written by Kim Sun-young (Media Lab)

The Seoul High Court announced that it will operate a 'focused trial division' for the expedited hearing of the three special prosecutor cases (insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, deceased marine) should appeals be filed.

Following the Seoul Central District Court, which handles the first trial of the special prosecutor cases, the Seoul High Court, responsible for appellate cases, has also prepared measures for swift trials.

The Seoul High Court announced this on the 22nd after a meeting of all criminal judges held under the supervision of Chief Judge Hong Dong-ki.

This comes after the Seoul Central District Court, on the 18th, implemented trial support measures such as assigning an additional judge to Criminal Agreement Division 25 (Presiding Judge Ji Gwi-yeon), which is handling the insurrection trial, to support the trials of the three special prosecutor cases. The Seoul High Court appears to have prepared countermeasures, conscious of concerns about trial delays from the ruling party and political circles.

The Seoul High Court stated, "For the thorough and swift hearing of specific cases, it is necessary to assign cases with identical issues or overlapping facts together as much as possible for focused trial," adding, "The size of the focused trial division will be further discussed after confirming the progress of trials at the Central District Court handling the first instance and the scale of appellate cases."

Regarding case assignment, unlike the usual method of assigning cases first and then redistributing them if there are grounds for disqualification or recusal, it has been decided to first confirm disqualification and recusal grounds from criminal judges and then conduct random computer-based assignment, excluding those judges.

Disqualification refers to a judge being unable to perform their duties (take on a case) due to specific relationships with the case or other reasons stipulated by law. Recusal is when a judge voluntarily refrains from taking on a case through a decision upon their own application.

The Seoul High Court also decided to actively consider suspending the assignment of other cases to the focused trial divisions and redistributing some of the existing cases to other divisions to support the focused trials.

The Seoul High Court stated, "The division assigned a specific case will not be assigned other prosecution cases related to the Special Prosecutor Act, excluding related cases," and "To ensure swift and focused trials, there will be no reassignment in principle after being designated as a focused trial division."

Furthermore, the Seoul High Court plans to request additional judges from the Court Administration and Management Office to increase the number of criminal trial divisions by two or more in the regular judicial personnel reshuffling scheduled for February next year.

To support focused trials, it has also been proposed to assign an additional four to five judicial researchers (law clerks) per division to assist the judges.

Regarding the broadcasting of special prosecutor case trials, it was explained, "We shared the content of the Special Prosecutor Act, the preparation status of broadcasting methods including the operation of the Seoul Court Administration Building trial broadcasting preparation team, and broadcasting equipment," and "We will reflect the opinions of judges in the implementation of trial broadcasting."

Previously, the Seoul Central District Court also presented trial support measures on the 18th, including assigning an additional judge to Criminal Agreement Division 25, which handles the insurrection trial, to ensure swift and fair trials for the three special prosecutor cases. Yonhap News